Introductory description

The focus in this module is on English for Specific Academic Purposes, so materials are adapted to the students’ areas of interest. Students’ develop their note-taking skills, including reconstructing from notes, discussion of issues arising from listening or reading material, and asking questions. There is also a focus on collaborative work as a way of developing skills in ‘critical thinking’. Listening practice highlights spoken discourse markers, and supports the understanding of rapid or elliptical speech.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Lectures

• Listening to lectures: note-taking techniques
• Identifying natural connected speech
• Pre-listening discussion
• Developing the macro-strategy of predicting listening and summarising /reproducing main ideas
• Analysing the language used by the lecturer
• Post-listening discussion
• Peer-reviewing lecture notes

Seminars and discussions

• Taking part in small and large group discussions
• ‘Active’ listening
• Reflective listening
• Demonstrating evidence of critical thinking
• Peer reviewing seminar handouts

Presentations

• Giving an effective and well-structured presentation
• Emphasis and phrasing/chunking in sustained monologue
• Language for referring to sources
• Producing effective visual aids
• Language for referring to visuals

Fostering learner autonomy.

• Online self-study
• Considering the notion of a good language learner
• Identifying different learning styles and differences in teaching/learning across cultures

Pronunciation

• Individual sounds; word stress; sentence stress and intonation
• Natural connected speech: weak forms and liaisons
• Natural connected speech: emphasis and phrasing/chunking/thought groups

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Make effective, well structured presentations, using appropriate signposting language.
• Make use of language for seminars, including agreement, disagreements, asking questions and developing arguments.
• Communicating effectively using comprehensible and appropriate pronunciation, intonation and stress patterns
• Listen effectively to longer spoken texts and being able to reproduce and/or respond to main arguments.

Subject specific skills

• Listen effectively to longer spoken texts and be able to reproduce main arguments
• Understand naturally connected speech
• Take effective notes from spoken input
• Use pre, during and post listening techniques to develop comprehension of a spoken text
• Orally summarise key points of a spoken text
• Be an active, reflective and critical participant in small and large group discussions
• Plan and deliver effectively structured presentations
• Use language appropriately to refer to sources, visuals and to signpost
• Produce effective visuals

Transferable skills

• Presentation skills
• Self-reflection
• Time management
• Interpersonal skills
• Team working